1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to lids for containers and, more particularly, is directed to a lid container with a tear skirt.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Lids that make a seal with the top of a container so as to result in a capped container are well known. Sealed containers of this type are used for paint, asphalt, joint compound and the like. In recent years, such containers have been made of plastic, rather than metal.
Plastic containers with mating lids are exemplified in U.S. Pat. No. 4,210,258 and United Kingdom Patent No. 1,582,416. Plastic container lids with removable tear strips are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,362,252; 4,397,404; 4,417,666; 4,484,687; 4,538,740; 4,561,553; and 4,676,389 and the references cited therein.
One type of lid for a plastic container has a depending wall with an annular straight groove on the inner side of the wall adjacent a bottom edge thereof. The portion of the wall below the groove defines a removable tear skirt. At least one hole is provided in the depending wall at the site of the groove in order to facilitate removal of the skirt. The hole permits a person to break away the lower part of the wall so that it can be torn off along the annular groove. Tearing away the bottom portion of the wall makes it easier to flex the sidewall so as to remove the lid from the container. However, this type lid has been met with varying degrees of success because of the difficulty in manufacturing such a lid. In particular, it is difficult to precisely control the wall thickness of the straight groove which determines the effort required to remove the bottom portion of the sidewall. The wall thickness of the groove must be sufficiently thin to permit easy removal of the tear skirt and sufficiently thick to prevent unwanted premature tearing of the tear skirt.
In addition to the foregoing disadvantages, due to the straight sidewall edge that remains after removal of the tear skirt, the sidewall is still relatively inflexible so that a considerable flexing force must be applied to pry the lid of the container.